And the Smartest Building in America Is . . .

Providence St. Peter Hospital, Olympia, Wash., has been named the “Smartest Building in America” by Siemens Industry. The hospital earned the title in Siemens’ Smartest Building in America Challenge. Jackson South Community Hospital, Miami, claimed the runner-up title. The hospitals will share $40,000 in Siemens products and services.

“Having the facility managers of two hospitals win Smartest Buildings In America demonstrates the sophistication of building management in the health care industry and their dedication to leveraging building automation systems to improve their efficiency and environment,” said Rich Lattanzi, vice president of Control Products and Systems (CPS), Building Technologies Division of Siemens Industry, Inc.

Five industry experts judged the 2011 contestants based on criteria including how innovatively the facility managers use their building automation systems to achieve business, efficiency, and sustainability goals, and how the Siemens systems have contributed to making their buildings more efficient. Submissions were evaluated for creativity and artistic merit and how well the videos articulated the innovations, features, and capabilities orchestrated by the building owner, facility manager, or consulting-specifying engineer to make the buildings “smart.”

Providence St. Peter Hospital earned the contest's $25,000 grand prize. “The hospital's facility staff did a great job of portraying how it uses its APOGEE building- automation system to provide a comfortable environment for its patients, physicians, staff and visitors,” Lattanzi said. “It also qualified for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Energy Star building program.”

Jackson South Community Hospital is the runner up and winner of the $15,000 prize. “The Jackson facility's team highlighted how its building automation system achieved greater efficiencies and cost savings despite a $102 million expansion project that doubled the building's size,” according to Lattanzi. “The hospital's TALON system incorporates innovations such as Wi-Fi and the use of actual mechanical floor plans to help the hospital's maintenance team respond to emergencies more quickly. In addition, the system's ability to capture and utilize building data allowed the team to decide to run the hospital on one chiller plant instead of two.”

Providence St. Peter Hospital and Jackson South Community Hospital have the option of accepting their prizes in Siemens products and services or donating them to a charity of their choice.

For more information on Siemens' Smartest Building in America contest or to view the winning video entries submitted by Providence St. Peter Hospital and Jackson South Community Hospital visit: www.smartestbuildinginamerica.com.

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